The township was founded as
Elizabeth Township on May 14, 1821, a few months after the initial creation of township districts in Callaway County and around the time of Missouri statehood. The county seat was a town called Elizabeth (not to be confused with nearby Saint Elizabeth in Miller County), about 6 miles southeast of
Fulton, not far from the settlement of
Hams Prairie. On February 7, 1825, the county seat was moved to Fulton, and the district was enlarged and renamed Fulton Township. Its boundaries stretched from a few miles north of Fulton to the Missouri River, and included what, around 1855, became
Saint Aubert Township (including Mokane) and most of what became
Caldwell Township in 1883. Over time, areas further north of Fulton, including the historic village of Callaway, were added to the unified, historical Fulton Township. The boundaries were changed again by 2000. Details of boundary changes can be found in the various official Callaway County Atlases, three of which are found in one volume and, individually, on the website of the State of Missouri Historical Society . ==Geography==